Steam-joint packing.



. E. TREE. STEAM JOINT PACKING APPLICATION FILED DEO.2' 7,1910.

1,036,032; Patented Aug. 20, 1912.

FFEQ.

STEAM-JOINT PACKING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 20, 1912.

Application filed December 27, 1910. Serial No. 599,475.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EBER B. TREE, asubject of the King of Great Britain, at present residing at Chicago, in the county'of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam- Joint Packings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention 'relates to an improved steam-joint packing designed more particularly for use in rotary steam engines, although capable of application wherever a steam-tight joint is required between relatively stationary and movable surfaces which confine a body of steam under pressure.

The main object of the invention is to provide a steam packing of this character characterized by simpl city of structure, ease of application, economy of cost of manufacture, and etiiciency in service.

To this end the invention consists in the steam-joint packing hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which, for convenience of illustration, I have shown my improved stcan1joint packing as applied to the. swivclcd bearing and outer edge of the pistom vane or blade of a rotary engine of that well known type employing a piston-drum and a series of radial blades or vanes swiveled therein and at their outer edges engaging the cylinder wall; and Figure 1 is a fragmentary view of the drum, cylinder wall, piston-blade and its swiveled bearing of such an engine. Fig. 2 is an outer edge elevational view, partly broken away and in section of the piston-blade showing my improved steam-joint packing therein.

Referring to the drawing, in the application of my invention therein selected for purposes of illustration, 5 represents a frag inentof the piston-drum, 6 the usual longitudinally slot-ted swiveled' bearing or rocker through which passes the pistonblade or vane 7, the free edge of the latter bearing against the cylindrical internal Wall' 8 of the cylinder.

Referring first-to the application of the invention to the swiveled hearing or rocker 6, it will be observed that-the inner opposed faces of the walls of the slot through which the blade 7 passes are grooved or channeled longitudinally, the walls of said channels being formed by a series of steps 9, 9 9

which is of metal, and is formed on its outer surfaceor back with a corresponding series of steps 10, 10*, 10, located opposite the respective steps 9, 9*, and 9 of the groove or channel. The wearing face of the packing strip is formed with'a series of rectangular longitudinal grooves 11, located opposite the respective stepped surfaces 10 10 and 10 on the back of the strip and communicating with the latter by holes 12 bored through the body of the strip. The stepped channel in the swiveled bearing member 6 is somewhat deeper-than the thickness of the packing strip, and the latter is lightly pressed outwardly into bearing engagement withthe surface of the piston-blade 7 by a serpentine spring 13 confined between the lowermost step 9 of the groove or channel and the central step 10 of the packing strip.

It will be observed that the described structure provides means through the holes 19., for balancing the pressure of such steam as may tend to leak past the packing strip on both sides of the latter; and the described stepped form of joint between the back of the packing strip and the wall of the groove or channel is very efiective to arrest and prevent the leakage of steam through the said joint; while the grooved or channeled wearing face of the packing strip, by presenting a series of small steam traps, is likewise highly effective in preventing the leakage of steam between the face of the packing strip and the surface of the vane engaged thereby.

In Fig. 2 and the lower part of Fig. 1 I have shown a packing strip employing the same structural principle applied to the outer edge of the piston-blade 7 Here the packing strip 14 is formed on its outer or rear side with a central step'lt and on either side thereof with lower steps 14*, the

groove or channel in the edge of the pistonblade being formed with corresponding steps 15 and 15 The packing strip 14: is

formed in its wearing face with a series. of longitudinal grooves or channels 16 that communicate with the back of the strip through holes 17 for balancing the steam v verse partitions 18; a serpentine spring 19 also being em loyed behind the strip to nor mally urge t e same into contact with the cylinder wall 8. In this form of the invention I have shown one of the channel walls and the central portion of the strip as formed with overlapping shoulders 20 and 21, respectively, between whichthere is normally sufficient clearance to allow for wear of the working face of the packing strip, for the purpose of locking the strip in place, and as a convenience in assembling, but this feature may be employed or omitted, as desired.

Among the advantages secured by my novel steam-joint packing are, first, its simplicity, since the c entire packing may be formed by a single integral strip, which maybe of brass, Babbitt-metal, or even cast iron; second, its high degree of efficiency as a steam-tight joint, presenting, as it does, on both sides a multiplicity of bearing surfaces separated by intervening steam traps or spaces; and, third, its comparative ease of manufacture and application, resulting mainlyfrom the fact that it is made in a single piece and requires no elaborate machiningv and fitting for itseifective applica tion and use. Furthermore, it permits and l facilitates the use of a simple single spring,

such as that of the serpentine form shown, for producing the necessary bearing pressure of the working face of the strip against the part for, which it serves as a packing v Although I I have illustrated particular 1 applications of my improved steam-joint packing to parts of a rotary engine, it will be understood that the same may be applied wherever it may be found useful, in other 'types of engines, or anywhere where a steam-tight joint is to be formed between relatively stationary and movable walls subjected to steam under pressure.

I claim-' a 1. A steam joint structure comprising two members adapted to have relative sliding movement, one of said members being formed with a groove having stepped walls,

in combination with a metal packing strip face, and a spring confined between the bottom of said groove and the opposed portion of said packing strip and pressingthe latter outwardly, substantially as described.

2. A steam joint structure comprising two members adapted to have relative sliding movement, one of said members being formed. with a groove having stepped walls, in combination with a metal packing strip in said groove, said packing strip having a stepped outer surface conforming to and cooperating with the stepped walls of said groove, and a wearing surface engaging the other of said members and formed with a plurality of longitudinal channels interrupted at intervals by transverse partitions, and further provided with a series of holes extending between the channels of its wearing surface, and its stepped outer surface and a spring confined between the bottom of said groove and the opposed portion of said packing strip and pressing the latter outwardly, substantially as described.

EBER B. TREE. 

